Jump to content

Farmhouse/Saison


Recommended Posts

A while back I posted a request for info about farmhouse/saison recipes, and the Brewart Team came through with this reply:

Quote

Welcome aboard, that's great to hear you're looking at brewing a Saison, they're delicous. 
Saison style beers attribute most of their unique flavours to their yeast., an we do not stock a Saison yeast, so you will need to purchase it from another supplier. 

Be careful when selecting your Saison yeast as most contain Diastaticus yeast which have the ability to produce enzymes, which give them the ability to hydrolyze starches and dextrins into fermentable sugars. Meaning your beers will attenuate further and over-carbonate in the Keg. Also it is very hard to remove Diastaticus from your brewery once it's introduced.  

The good news is Lallemand have released a yeast called Lalbrew Farmhouse. This has been made with a hybrid yeast strain and is STA negative, so you do not need to worry about over attenuation and contaminating future brews. 

As for a recipe, they're pretty simple to make. This is based off of the classic Saison Dupont.
E1, E5, E5, X1, X2, X1. Saison Yeast, H4, H4. 
Ferment warm at 25°C

Took me awhile to get comfortable enough with the process to give this a try, but today I started the brew. I'll post results as they come up.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

36 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

Be very interested in your feedback on this one. Haven't actually had a Saison but having read a bit about it, I believe it should be something I would like

I'll be glad to supply all the details. I've always enjoyed a wide variety of beer styles, but any time I go to a new craft brewery, the first thing I always ask about is Saisons, Farmhouse Ales and Biere de Gardes (a farmhouse ale tending toward higher ABV.) They tend to be a bit "funky" but not in an objectionable way. They are really made to be long-conditioned in the bottle. What I love about the style is that they tend to be "not too"; funky but not too funky, tart but not too tart, hoppy but not too hoppy, spicy but not too spicy, strong but not too strong. They can be crisp and refreshing on a hot summer day, but still warming and full-flavored for sipping before a winter fire. The recipe quoted from the Brewart Team replicates the DuPont Saison, which is sort of a classic. If you find a bottle available somewhere, I suggest you buy one. 

Edited by Steve Gyldenvand
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

The recipe quoted from the Brewart Team replicates the DuPont Saison, which is sort of a classic. If you find a bottle available somewhere, I suggest you buy one. 

Well, maybe I will if you are going to throw a challenge out like that... :)

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

And.........I live in a damned Redneck town where I cannot just go to a national brand store and buy one...FML

I mean we have the store, just not those beers, will have to keep my eye out when i go to Melbourne and then Vietnam and back in July. So many advantages of living in a small city pop 25k but there are disadvantages

 

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

And.........I live in a damned Redneck town where I cannot just go to a national brand store and buy one...FML

I mean we have the store, just not those beers, will have to keep my eye out when i go to Melbourne and then Vietnam and back in July. So many advantages of living in a small city pop 25k but there are disadvantages

 

 

I hear you, Rob. I live in a very rural area, oddly surrounded by a lot of small breweries and mid-sized retailers. You can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting a huge selection of IPAs, American-style lagers, porters, and barrel-aged stouts. But if you're looking for something a little less mainstream, the pickings are pretty damn slim.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This Dupont Saison replica recipe has caught my attention.  I found the Lallemand Saison yeast at Mr. Beer and ordered two packets.  The BrewArt ingredients have been added to my shopping list spreadsheet for BrewArt.  (When is the next free-shipping opportunity coming up?)

I plan to substitute 50g of Saaz dry hops for the two H4's.

Thanks to @Steve Gyldenvandfor opening this topic.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Thagomizer said:

This Dupont Saison replica recipe has caught my attention.  I found the Lallemand Saison yeast at Mr. Beer and ordered two packets.  The BrewArt ingredients have been added to my shopping list spreadsheet for BrewArt.  (When is the next free-shipping opportunity coming up?)

I plan to substitute 50g of Saaz dry hops for the two H4's.

Thanks to @Steve Gyldenvandfor opening this topic.

Glad you're joining the party! Mine is 7 days in the droid at this time. You mention getting the Saison yeast from Mr Beer. When I first inquired about a saison recipe, the brewart folks made a point of warning about the problems with over-attenuation of traditional diastaticus saison yeast, and specifically recommended the recently introduced Lallemand Farmhouse yeast to prevent the over-attenuation issue. (Their discussion of this is quoted at the top of this topic thread.) I just mention this in case you didn't catch that part of the discussion and wanted to take it into consideration. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

Glad you're joining the party! Mine is 7 days in the droid at this time. You mention getting the Saison yeast from Mr Beer. When I first inquired about a saison recipe, the brewart folks made a point of warning about the problems with over-attenuation of traditional diastaticus saison yeast, and specifically recommended the recently introduced Lallemand Farmhouse yeast to prevent the over-attenuation issue. (Their discussion of this is quoted at the top of this topic thread.) I just mention this in case you didn't catch that part of the discussion and wanted to take it into consideration. 

Yes.  Mr. Beer has the Lallemand version of Saison yeast.  Thanks anyway for the warning.  I would hate to ruin a droid.

By the way, I want to confirm that the Elements and Enhancers are: E1, E5*2, X1*2 and X2.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, I bottled this morning, and a happy chore it was! I started with a sip to make sure there was nothing obviously "off" about it, then started bottling. About 6 bottles in I poured a small glass, and.........my, my, my, it was delightful! It needs time now, for sure, but I don't expect it'll go downhill, and I look forward to updating here as it matures.

As I noted before, this has been my favorite beer style for years. It has so much character, without being "too" anything. The key to this style is, of course, the yeast. As pointed out to me by the good folks at Brewart, traditional Saison yeast has "issues" making it a bit of a challenge for brewers. The new hybrid Farmhouse yeast from Lallemand approximates the characteristics of traditional Saison yeast, while also avoiding the problems. My hat is off to Brewart for providing this info and paving the way for my Saison brewing. I know the new yeast is a proprietary Lallemand product, but I wonder if Brewart might consider talking with them about a distribution partnership, so they could offer a Saison/Farmhouse brewprint.  (In case you're interested, I'm calling this 12 Gates Farmhouse Ale.)

On an interesting side-note, I was pleasantly surprised to find that droid cleanup after this one was incredibly easy. There had been no overflow at all, and after bottling, the krausen inside wiped right off. 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Yes!

It was a hot, hot day here in Wisconsin, and I was dutifully walking the pup under the blazing sun when my phone dutifully informed me that my 12 Gates Farmhouse Ale had completed initial conditioning. I put a couple bottles in the fridge, then bottled a batch of Cooper's Sparkling while I waited. Once the droid-cleanse had been put to work and my brew notes updated, I poured the tulip pictured here and gave it a taste. And...yes. This is what I've been hoping for.

Anyone who is a fan of the farmhouse/saison style, or intrigued about it, I'd highly recommend this recipe. Now I just hope I can keep my hands off some of it till it's matured a bit. I have no doubt that it'll just keep getting better with time. Problem is, it's so damn good now! 

IMG_4474.jpeg

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

Yes!

It was a hot, hot day here in Wisconsin, and I was dutifully walking the pup under the blazing sun when my phone dutifully informed me that my 12 Gates Farmhouse Ale had completed initial conditioning. I put a couple bottles in the fridge, then bottled a batch of Cooper's Sparkling while I waited. Once the droid-cleanse had been put to work and my brew notes updated, I poured the tulip pictured here and gave it a taste. And...yes. This is what I've been hoping for.

Anyone who is a fan of the farmhouse/saison style, or intrigued about it, I'd highly recommend this recipe. Now I just hope I can keep my hands off some of it till it's matured a bit. I have no doubt that it'll just keep getting better with time. Problem is, it's so damn good now! 

IMG_4474.jpeg

You must be thinking about the second droid by now?

It is a very good investment.

Onto the beer though, looks great, kind of think I am going to have to keep an eye out for Saison yeast (I say that but I guess I'll go into the brewshop and there will be three fridges full of it)

 

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

You must be thinking about the second droid by now?

It is a very good investment.

Onto the beer though, looks great, kind of think I am going to have to keep an eye out for Saison yeast (I say that but I guess I'll go into the brewshop and there will be three fridges full of it)

 

I would love to bring in a second droid, Rob, but I just don't have room for it. As it is, we had to make a major sacrifice to our kitchen appliance availability to accommodate the one droid we have.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

Just had a look online, there is a known brand that does the yeast so even my beershop guy should be able to source it. Travelling in a few weeks time to actual cities from where I live so hopefully will be able to track down one of these to give it a go first

 

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm belaboring the point, but the Brewart team seems to think it's pretty important, so I'll address it again. When I first inquired about a saison/farmhouse recipe, they warned about potential problems with traditional saison yeasts, specifically over-attenuation, as well as a tendency for them to "infect" brewing equipment. To avoid these problems, they recommended the Lallemand Farmhouse yeast (NOT their Belle Saison). That's the yeast I used for this batch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, Steve Gyldenvand said:

 

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm belaboring the point, but the Brewart team seems to think it's pretty important, so I'll address it again. When I first inquired about a saison/farmhouse recipe, they warned about potential problems with traditional saison yeasts, specifically over-attenuation, as well as a tendency for them to "infect" brewing equipment. To avoid these problems, they recommended the Lallemand Farmhouse yeast (NOT their Belle Saison). That's the yeast I used for this batch.

No good call, there is a place like 80 miles away from me that has the Lallemand brand on its website, I will keep that in mind. I mean I'll give the Brewshop guy in my town a chance first, I'm happy to pay whatever he charges just to support local but if not, I'll jump in the car and go for a drive ( halfway along on that drive is an excellent bakery, so you know, two birds something something :)

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Rob Courtney said:

No good call, there is a place like 80 miles away from me that has the Lallemand brand on its website, I will keep that in mind. I mean I'll give the Brewshop guy in my town a chance first, I'm happy to pay whatever he charges just to support local but if not, I'll jump in the car and go for a drive ( halfway along on that drive is an excellent bakery, so you know, two birds something something :)

You had me at "bakery", Rob. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Steve Gyldenvand said:

You had me at "bakery", Rob. :D

 

Years ago, I read this article on a woman who had a bakery ( one of those, I make these, and I only open between here and here and I don't work these days...and everyone was quite OK with it because what she made...) and her husband was a distance runner and I never thought he did it because he liked running, just that he could do that and then eat whatever he wanted.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 02/06/2023 at 8:01 AM, Steve Gyldenvand said:

I would love to bring in a second droid, Rob, but I just don't have room for it. As it is, we had to make a major sacrifice to our kitchen appliance availability to accommodate the one droid we have.

 

Steve,

Get a cart.  I have no room in my kitchen either.  I have a stainless-steel cart for each droid.  The shelves hold extra brewprints.  I wheel the cart into the kitchen when I bottle/keg; then the empty droid goes onto the counter by the sink for cleaning and sterilizing.  Afterwards, back on the cart for filling.  (My kitchen sink has an extensible hose.)  I never lift a full droid.

Below is a photo of my loaded cart located in my brewing room/office.

RollingCart.gif.65edfd8bc8d3095074a82dc863bdaa67.gif

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Thagomizer said:

Steve,

Get a cart.  I have no room in my kitchen either.  I have a stainless-steel cart for each droid.  The shelves hold extra brewprints.  I wheel the cart into the kitchen when I bottle/keg; then the empty droid goes onto the counter by the sink for cleaning and sterilizing.  Afterwards, back on the cart for filling.  (My kitchen sink has an extensible hose.)  I never lift a full droid.

Below is a photo of my loaded cart located in my brewing room/office.

RollingCart.gif.65edfd8bc8d3095074a82dc863bdaa67.gif

Thanks for the pro tip, Thag. I like your setup there, but I literally have no space available to keep a cart, either.  We actually do have almost exactly that same cart in the kitchen serving as additional counter space and small appliance storage, and my droid lives on another, smaller cart beside the stove.

We have a century+ old farmhouse with an eccentric floor-plan that has always been a challenge to live with. Perhaps some day we may indulge in a major remodel, but we just don't feel tens of thousands of dollars worth of inconvenienced quite yet. xD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Steve,

The beauty of the landscape surrounding your Wisconsin farmhouse makes up for a lot.  If I were younger, I would seek a Texas scenic setting with a similar but prairie view.  Of course, it would need a dedicated brewing room with an industrial sink and stainless-steel shelving.  Ahh... dream on.

We happily brew with what resources we have.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Thagomizer said:

Steve,

The beauty of the landscape surrounding your Wisconsin farmhouse makes up for a lot.  If I were younger, I would seek a Texas scenic setting with a similar but prairie view.  Of course, it would need a dedicated brewing room with an industrial sink and stainless-steel shelving.  Ahh... dream on.

We happily brew with what resources we have.

When I was young, my daydreams were of fast cars and pretty girls. Now, I fantasize about a properly outfitted utility room, with copious storage, counter, and bench space for all my various vices and activities.

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
  • Create New...